More than 20 media activists infected with coronavirus in Iran; one journalist dies
Following the spread of the coronavirus in various cities in Iran and the infection of more than 27,000 Iranians, published news indicates that more than 20 media activists have been infected and one journalist has died from the virus in Iran.
The Ahvaz Human Rights Organization announced in a report on Tuesday, April 25, that Mehdi Bahri, a freelance photographer and journalist who was arrested during the protests of last November and is currently in Ahvaz Central Prison due to his family's inability to post a 600 million Toman bail, has been infected with the coronavirus.
This organization, while warning about the indifference of the authorities of Ahvaz Central Prison to the spread of this virus and the endangerment of the lives of prisoners in this prison, has called for the immediate release of all "political and non-dangerous prisoners" from this prison.
On the other hand, Seyyed Mehrdad Seyyed Mehdi, head of the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation, announced on Monday, April 24, in a tweet that 19 of the company's journalists had contracted the coronavirus.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has also announced in its latest report that reports received by the federation indicate that at least 5 Iranian journalists in different locations have been infected with the virus and are in quarantine.
Also, on Monday, April 24, news was released indicating that Abdullah Zawiyeh, editor of the morning shift of Fars News Agency, had died from the coronavirus.
The Islamic Republic's authorities officially announced 2,077 deaths as of Wednesday, April 27, 2020. The total number of infected people has reached 27,017. This figure comes despite a World Health Organization official saying that the figures announced by Iranian authorities on the number of people infected with the coronavirus are only one-fifth of the actual number of infected people. Also, on Monday, the Iranian regime expelled the Doctors Without Borders team, which had arrived in Iran from France in recent days and was building a 50-bed emergency center in Iran to care for acute cases of the new coronavirus, due to opposition from a number of figures close to and supportive of the Islamic Republic's leader.
The United States has repeatedly condemned mismanagement, institutionalized financial corruption, and the plundering of Iranian assets by the regime's affiliates, calling them among the main causes of Iran's problems and the poor welfare of its people. Not long ago, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about the Islamic Republic's officials that they were involved in corruption instead of helping the people.
Source: Voice of America
